Friday, March 07, 2008

Is there any doubt Warner ripped off Linda Perry? Speak to Irving Azoff, who's had to constantly audit the company re Eagles sales. And settled on an ultimate amount, after expending all those dollars on an accounting that in many contracts you can only do during a limited window. This is an enticement to go with a major label? They pay you an advance and..?

Guy Hands blamed the greedy acts. Well, wouldn't you extract a hefty advance if you knew the odds of getting any future dollars were low, and those you did get were a fraction of those you should? Isn't it funny how Edgar and Lyor get their bonuses, but the people who actually CREATE the hits get fucked.

Especially with the move to digital, there's no reason there can't be transparent accounting. And with no manufacturing and little distribution costs, why does an artist get less than ten cents per iTunes download.

In the last century artists needed the label. As a bank, as a distributor. But those days are through. Anybody can get an iTunes deal, essentially for nothing with Tunecore. As for production... Rail all you want how home Pro Tools rigs don't deliver the sound of hundred dollar an hour studios, but don't forget that most people are listening to earbuds and/or the shittiest computer speakers known to man AND you can make a recording ninety percent as good AND it's about the song instead of the electronic crap permeating the evanescent Top Forty records.

I'd say we need an artists' bill of rights, but musicians no longer need to play with the big old boys. They've got a zillion options. And some young 'un is going to roll up these new acts in a new company that not only delivers services for a fraction of what the big boys charge, they're going to account HONESTLY!

360 deal/360 schmeal. Peter Jackson needed New Line to make "Lord Of The Rings". He couldn't lay his hands on $100 million himself. He couldn't get in movie theatres. But the movie business is a couple of years and a couple of changes behind the music business. The means of production and distribution are in the hands of the proletariat. And with these tools, players are going to revolutionize the business.

The major labels were not killed by Internet piracy. Rather their own greed has doomed them. They've alienated the public, the acts and even Wall Street. The only ones on their team are themselves. Their only hope, and its chances of success are slim, is to completely revolutionize their business and get in touch with the times. Guy Hands is cutting fat, everything he's doing is on the inside. What has he done for the artists and fans? Where's our piece of the pie? Where's the acknowledgement WE'VE been fucked in the ass for so many years?

Sure, superstar acts like the Eagles and gigantic one hit wonders like James Blunt can afford to audit. But what about someone starting out, who truly needs the money?

As for big sales translating into big road dollars and a long career... Rihanna plays clubs and she had the biggest hit of the summer.

Turns out you've truly got to do it the old-fashioned way. Slowly. Building from fan to fan. Takes years to build an act that sustains. But most label employees are afraid of getting fired NEXT MONTH! They can't think about five years from now.

The big labels should just cease new music production and function as licensing houses for their catalogs. They're spinning their wheels financially in new music. Hell, it's ever-harder to break a band big, there are numerous areas of exposure and it's harder to get noticed. Ergo, the death of diamond album sales.

I think it's time for the labels to stop beating up everyone on the outside and look at themselves. THEY'RE the problem.